The Wisconsin state Assembly on Friday passed a Republican plan to curb public sector union power over the fierce objections of protesters, setting the stage for a showdown with Senate Democrats who fled the state last week to prevent a vote in that chamber.
After two all-night debating sessions and an eleventh hour Democratic bid for a compromise, the Republican-dominated Assembly abruptly ended all debate early Friday morning and approved the bill by a vote of 51 to 17.

The outcome of the vote, which was taken so fast many Democratic lawmakers who were outside the chamber when it was called were unable to participate, was greeted by chants of “it’s not over yet” and “we are here to stay” from more than a thousand protesters who stayed to watch in the capitol rotunda overnight.

Here’s the reaction from pro labor demonstrators in the gallery:

This is video from the gallery of the WI Assembly past 1 AM in the morning on 2/25/2011. The Democrats have just been told by the speaker pro tempore there will be no more debate before the vote, even though there were more than a dozen Democrats in the queue to speak. They shout “Shame! Shame! Shame!”

The public citizens in the gallery were shortly told to leave by police. None of the public were allowed in the gallery at the time of the vote.